Not showing up for a felony probation revocation hearing will now draw an additional felony charge, thanks to a new state law.
“What it did, basically, is make it a D felony on revocations whereas before it was not really a crime,” said John Threet, Washington County prosecuting attorney. “What we would do is say they were in contempt of court because they didn’t show up. Now we can file a new felony charge.”
It was already a felony if someone charged with a felony didn’t show up for arraignment or trial and parole violations are the purview of the Arkansas Department of Correction. The new law took effect in August.
Threet said in most cases felons placed on probation are ordered to pay restitution, seek counseling or meet other conditions. Under the new law, if the offender violates those terms, a warrant is issued for his arrest and a trial set to determine if probation will be revoked. The revocation is handled like a new case.
In the past, if the felon didn’t show up for a revocation hearing, prosecutors didn’t really have anything to hold over their heads to make them comply.
“The likelihood they are going to do time is far greater now,” Threet said. “So, it gives them additional punishment if they decide to skip out on their revocation hearing.”
Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, a former prosecutor, recognized the problem and sponsored the legislation in the regular session of the General Assembly earlier this year.
“On a parole or probation revocation they already have a felony so contempt of court has no teeth whatsoever and provided no incentive for them to come. In all likelihood, they’d be going to prison or a few more days in jail or something not good was going to happen to them if they did show up,” Hutchinson said. “I thought it was necessary to put some teeth at that stage of the adjudication process and I think that bill did it.”
Threet said the law was long overdue.
“You were given a break the first time to see if you couldn’t get rehabbed and straighten up and do what the court required you to do and you didn’t, you snubbed your nose at it,” Threet said. “Now you can get a new felony for it, if you blow it off.”
Threet said state prosecutors had asked for the law for several years.
“We’d tried it a couple of times before and it just never got anywhere but this time it got passed,” Threet said. “To me, it’s a no-brainer. I don’t know why they made that distinction in the law in the first place.”
Washington County Public Defender Denny Hyslip said the new law may make a little more work for his deputies but failure to appear charges usually end up running concurrently with other sentences.
“Usually by the time they get to that point they’ve committed some other crimes,” Hyslip said.